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(Credit: SpringCity Development, 2022)
The image shows the intersection of South and Elm streets in the lower right corner. The two buildings at the very bottom run along the south side of Elm Street. They, along with the three-floor building in the lower-right will be renovated in "Phase 1" of SpringCity's proposed project. "Phase 2" of the project will construct the larger, five-floor building in the near background, if the project is approved.
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(Credit: SpringCity Development Group, 2022)
The "Gallery" space as seen from South Street. The gallery plaza will run from South Street, in the foreground, to Elm Street between the Sandy's Clam Bar Building, at left, and the planned building that faces both South Street and Elm Street.
SpringCity Development Group went to the Glens Falls Planning Board with three objectives in mind: to have the board confirm that their site plan application for the redevelopment of South and Elm streets was complete; to conduct a public hearing on site plan application; and to provide feedback in anticipation of environmental review of the plan, according to Elizabeth “Libby” Coreno, the attorney representing the group.
On-site and off-site parking, the various phases of development, and the farmers market that will be moved during the development were on the minds of people who spoke during the public hearing, a hearing the Planning Board kept open until their next meeting. The board did not vote on the plan, which they for the first time officially in early July. Drafts of the project had been shared publicly in other settings.
The SpringCity project calls for two phases. The first would renovate three existing buildings on or near the intersection of Elm and South streets all of which are empty and run down. The second would construct a new, five-floor building that faces both Elm and South streets. That building would surround the current Sandy’s Clam Bar building and use the South Street Pavilion parking lot on South Street.
The space between the Sandy’s building and the new building is a “gallery” space, open to the public, said architect Natalie Seagriff.
“We see it as being a very activated space for the public,” she said of the gallery and the wide sidewalks along Elm Street.
[Read more about the project here.]
Although most comments from the Planning Board were positive about the project, the board was concerned with greenery and plantings especially around the new building. They are looking at lighting, especially through the “gallery” area. They asked about trash collection; about the stormwater management system that collects rain water in tanks underground and slowly releases the water to the surrounding area; and the way that parents will negotiate their cars, children and packages at the car drop-off location created at least in part because some of the parking for the new apartment building will be at the parking garage at 333 Glen St., a few blocks from the building.
The three buildings to be renovated and the new building will be mixed use of commercial and residential. SpringCity won approval for additional residential, including residential at ground level, in a recent Zoning Board of Appeals meeting. Restaurants and a small grocery store are planned for the commercial space.
Yet there is a third phase that some who spoke drew attention to, especially, they argued, because they felt it used to be the central concern of the city: the Market Square building that is still in the planning stages for 59 South Street half a block from the South and Elm intersection.
Often called the "Yellow Birch Leaf Building," it is to replace the current South Street Pavilion as the location of the Glens Falls Farmers Market.
[Read more about the Yellow Birch Leaf here.]
Despite assurances from Coreno that the South Street Pavilion will not be demolished before the Yellow Birch Leaf Building is built, Thomas Wells, the president of the Glens Falls Farmers Market organization, said he was feeling that his organization was “pushed to the side.”
At one point, the whole plan for redeveloping the block centered around the new farmers market location.
The original plans called for the Market Square Building to be large and capable of year-round use by the farmers market. The newly designed Yellow Birch Leaf Building is a 5,000 square foot pavilion, a space about 1,000 square feet smaller than the current space.
“What do I do with the vendors” who no longer fit in the space, he wondered aloud. Which of the 44 vendors does he cut?
And the current South Street Pavilion is a parking lot, so farmers can easily bring all the produce and unload without shlepping cases and crates of produce to the site, Wells told the board, adding that at the new site they will need to unload then go find parking elsewhere.
He asked the board to keep that in mind as they planned.
With the Spring City project taking the first two phases, people such as Gary McCoola, were afraid the third phase, the farmers market, would not get its due.
"You're just kicking the can down the road" if the entire development is not considered together, McCoola said.
Wells said that nothing he heard at the meeting made him feel better about the market's prospects.
“It’s disheartening,” he said.
The city for their part said a parking study underway now will be used to find and develop parking nearby. Jeff Flagg said the city is actively in negotiations with 333 Glen Associates, to allow the public to use the garage at their location. Flagg is the city's director of economic development. 333 Glen Associates owns the parking garage and the Monument Square tower near the corner of Glen and Bay streets in the city.
[Read more about the parking study here.]
The board took no votes on the project Tuesday night, and have left open the public comment. They will see plans that address their concerns in September.